Tier 1 Companionship & Logistics
Low risk · ideal for studentsMedication reminders, errands, walks, cognitive stimulation, and company.
Students & entry-level caregivers
From Náhuatl — "to care for someone"
Care that's matched, not just hired.
Maku screens every caregiver with an AI-randomized assessment, then matches them to the elder who needs exactly their kind of care.
- 1 in 5
- Koreans are 65+ — a super-aged society
- Every
- caregiver screened before approval
- Human-led
- AI assists, people decide
JS
Ji-woo S.
Tier 1 · Companionship
96%
Identity & background verified
The challenge
Korea is aging faster than any nation in history — and caregivers are running out.
The country entered super-aged territory while fewer young people remain to care for their elders. Maku closes that gap — without lowering the bar on who gets to care.
20%
of Koreans were 65+ by the end of 2024 — officially a super-aged society
0.72
births per woman — the world's lowest fertility rate, and fewer family caregivers
10M+
Koreans projected to be 65 or older this decade
Figures are directional, based on public statistics.
How it works
From sign-up to match, in three steps.
01
AI-randomized screening
Every applicant takes a Likert and estimative-scale assessment drawn from a human-curated item bank. The AI shuffles questions and options so no two tests are alike — and plants consistency checks to catch answers that just tell us what we want to hear.
02
A caregiver profile, generated
From the response patterns, Maku builds a structured profile: strengths, temperament, skill tier, and a confidence score. Identity (KYC) and background are verified before anyone is approved.
03
The right match, recommended
Families describe the elder's needs with clinical ADL/IADL scales (Katz, Lawton). Maku cross-references need against profile and recommends caregivers who truly fit — students for light companionship, nurses for clinical care.
Caregivers
Three tiers of care, matched to need.
The assessment doesn't just pass or fail — it places each caregiver where they do the most good.
Tier 1 
Tier 2 Intermediate Care
Medium riskMobility assistance, basic hygiene, feeding, and daily-routine support.
Experienced caregivers
Tier 3 Advanced & Clinical Care
High risk · credential-gatedBedridden patients, advanced dementia, wound and tube care.
Certified nurses only
Behind every match is a person who chose to care.
Not a transaction — a relationship built on trust.
Trust & safety
AI assists. Humans and verification decide.
We never let a model alone decide who cares for an elder. Maku keeps a person in the loop at every gate.
Human-in-the-loop
Human-curated item bank
Questions are written and validated by us, not improvised by a model. No hallucinated psychometrics.
Consistency & honesty checks
Paraphrased control questions catch applicants answering what they think we want to hear, and lower their confidence score.
Identity & background verified
KYC and criminal-record checks through trusted providers before any caregiver is approved.
Human-in-the-loop
The AI prioritizes and suggests. People, interviews and verification approve.
The name
Maku
/ˈma.ku/ · MAH-koo
From the Náhuatl Tlamacuitlahuia — “to care for someone.” An ancient word for an ancient act, rebuilt for the world's oldest societies.
Join us
Be part of the care revolution.
Caregivers and families — join the waitlist and help us build elder care worth trusting.